The choice of the international group Adidas has imposed itself. Indeed, we wanted to get better acquainted with the sports market since it has steadily increased over the past years. It still represents a certain future and substantial market share in the market of sporting goods. The company's ‘three stripes' trademark conquers the market of sport with an increasing scale today, despite some years of downturn of the company. But fierce competition with other brands has made it more conquering and thus makes the study of Adidas even more exciting.
The Adidas Group occupies a prominent place in the sports market. Adidas, whose headquarters is in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria (Germany), manufactures and distributes sporting goods, clothings, shoes, balls, golf equipments, etc. Indeed, Adidas is also a multitude of brands: Taylor Made, American brand of golf, Adidas golf shoes and textiles, the Mavic bike layout for skateboarding, Bonfire snowboard, Erima level Arc'teryx team sports and outdoor activities as well as for distribution.
The leitmotiv of the brand is primarily performance. The group wants to offer consumers the best of himself in his desired products, by integrating a professionalism that even a casual sports or a ‘pro' can enjoy. Adidas France, based near Strasbourg Landersheim, wishes in this regard to attract French customers at the expense of its major competitor, Nike. France is the third subsidiary of the group in Europe behind Germany and Great Britain. In 2005, the company had claimed to have employed approximately 16,000 employees worldwide, including 570 in France.
Indeed, the founding father of the brand is Adolf Dassler, who is the son of a Bavarian cobbler who specialized in the manufacture of slippers and athletic shoes since the 1920s. Using his nickname ‘Adi' and the first syllable of his surname 'Das', he created in 1948: Adidas. His brother Rudolf refused to associate with him and decided to create his own sports brand Puma.
After Adolf, his son Horst took over the brand with the ‘three stripes' trademark to lead it to success in the 60s and 70s, but his sudden death in 1987 at age 51, plunged the group, already plagued by competition from Reebok and Nike, into a dark period. At the beginning of the 90s, the heirs decided to sell the family business. It was a French businessman, Bernard Tapie, who bought the company, supported by Credit Lyonnais.
Two years later, Adidas was undergoing major losses again. Bernard Tapie in 1993 sold the firm to a group of private investors and the public. Led by a new head of company, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, the company was recreated. The latter decided to innovate and update the company's range of products.
It relied on a new image and marketing to improve the image of the group into a plebiscite of the leaders of the time. Two years later, the company revived and returned to being a major company in the market. Tempted by diversification, the company entered into a partnership with a French leader in winter sports.
Tags: Adidas: Social and Environmental Standards, Financial Analysis, Adidas strategy
[...] Currently, Adidas is trying to simplify its traceability in supply chains by reducing the number of its suppliers. Working with known suppliers is likely to benefit the quality, simplify logistics and reduce delivery times. Since the clothing market and the shoe markets are very sensitive to fashion trends, production must be very flexible to meet the needs of consumers. Thus, the group noted that 80% of orders for athletic shoes should be delivered within 60 days. To control its production, Adidas has a control system for supplier factories that include internal audits and external audits; at the end of of the production units of Adidas were audited (460 of 828 plants). [...]
[...] But the big chance of Adidas was sponsoring the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. It was in this perspective to spend million for the Olympics. Thus, it helped increase sales in China and East Asia. Nike: Nike is the one which is doing the best in sponsoring when compared to its competitors. Its first big coup was the signing up of Michael Jordan with the brand in 1987 who was the greatest basketball player of all time. Its strategy is simple: Recruit young athletes who are likely to become big stars. [...]
[...] The geographical distribution of sales is as follows: Europe ( 53.6 North America ( 22.9 Asia ( 19.3 Latin America ( 3.5 and others ( In the third quarter of 2005, Adidas sold the French brand Salomon with which it had formed a group. Adidas took the opportunity to revise its outlook when presenting its 2005 results. The German group expected a rise in its net income by at least 20% against a maximum of 15% originally expected for the year 2005. [...]
[...] have a passion for football which now affects all social classes.' The European Football Championship has allowed Adidas to sell over 6 million balls - a record in the history of football - and also 1 million shoes and 1.2 million golf sticks. Besides, the group saw one of its teams win, Greece. In August, the Athens Olympics gave the firm the opportunity to offer its logo in the light of billions of viewers for more than two weeks: Adidas clothes were worn by almost half of the participating athletes. [...]
[...] of the brand is Adolf Dassler, who is the son of a Bavarian cobbler who specialized in the manufacture of slippers and athletic shoes since the 1920s. Using his nickname ‘Adi' and the first syllable of his surname he created in 1948: Adidas. His brother Rudolf refused to associate with him and decided to create his own sports brand Puma. After Adolf, his son Horst took over the brand with the ‘three stripes' trademark to lead it to success in the 60s and 70s, but his sudden death in 1987 at age 51, plunged the group, already plagued by competition from Reebok and Nike, into a dark period. [...]
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